Danger Days: The True Lives of the Next Generation
by SkyeVerigold
Summary: Based on My Chemical Romance's "Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys."  I do NOT own any of the songs, the settings, Draculoids, Korse, or Dr. Death Defying.  The rest of the characters and the plot is mine.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The sun wasn't quite as blinding now that it was setting over the horizon. A little girl stood on the edge of a cliff, barren desert surrounding her, wind whipping her long, curly brown hair around. Tears were building up in her eyes, and not just because of the sand. She couldn't believe it had happened. Everything she had worked for, everything they had stood for… it was all gone now. All gone. None of it mattered anymore.

She felt a presence behind her and knew exactly who it was. She didn't wait for him to make himself known to her. "Dead," she simply stated. "They're all dead."

"I know," the familiar voice said, belonging to that of a boy a year older than her. "I'm sorry, Roxie. You were closest to your dad."

Roxanne wiped away a few of the tears streaming down her face. Somber, she turned to look at her friend.

"What are we gonna do now?" the boy questioned, his brown hair in his eyes. His face was red, like he had been crying, but he wasn't now, and his voice didn't waver. "Are the Killjoys just gonna stop now? They're nothing without them."

A look of determination crossed Roxanne's eyes. She picked up the ray gun off the ground beside her and gazed at it, seeing that all that was left of her father's name was "Poison." She gripped it harder.

"Now it's our turn," she declared. "We start our own Killjoys." Feeling strong and mature, Roxanne stuck the gun in her pocket. "We might not be much now, but in five years or so, we'll really be kicking butt. We'll finish what they started."

Footsteps were audible behind them, and they turned around to see an adult man with tons of facial hair and a motorbike jacket. "Roxanne, Johnny, are you kids ready to get back to the base?"

"We're not kids anymore," Roxanne proclaimed, trying to imitate his tall and confident stature. "We're Killjoys now, Dr. D."

Dr. Death Defying grinned, a hint of sadness lining his face. "You really are just like your old man."


	2. Look Alive, Sunshine

**Look Alive, Sunshine**

"You got your ass kicked out there, man!"

From the chair he was sitting in, Black Star threw a deflated basketball at Kalon Kid, who dodged it and started laughing. I smiled a bit; those two could cheer up a suicidal teenager.

"Star, if you move again, I'll beat your ass, I swear I will." Tear Ghoul wrapped more bandage around his head, her knowing, agile hands circling. "You're lucky you didn't crack your skull."

"Damn straight he is," I jumped in. "An inch closer to those rocks, and we'd be cleaning out the remains of his brain."

A small grin appeared on Star's dirtied up face, and I wondered what exactly he was thinking. He was so mysterious sometimes, real quiet mostly. He was never quiet until the accident.

"How'd it get you, anyway?" Kid asked. "I mean, how'd it get close enough to knock you over?"

Star sighed. "I was aiming at one of them. Right when I shot it, another one was sneaking up behind me. I turned around, and I tripped at the exact same moment it shot at me. If I hadn't fallen, I'd be dead right now."

Silence suddenly filled the room, the familiar, solemn mood that occurred in all of us whenever death was mentioned. It was so easy to die now, in these dangerous days of bad radiation and a world-dominating company. The thought of one of us dying was nearly unbearable, considering we were all like family, like brothers and sisters.

Considering one of us had died already.

My walkie-talkie started buzzing, and I knew immediately who it was (no one else communicated with us via walkie-talkie, anyway). I grabbed it out of my front pocket and thrust it to my ear. "Give it to me, Doc."

"Not looking good out here, tumbleweeds," Dr. D stated from the other line. "More and more kids are showing up at the station. We need a new supply of food or we'll run out and they'll starve."

"We're on it, man. Poison out." I put it back in my pocket and glanced at the others. Judging from their expressions, they knew.

Ghoul shook her head. "We went out just a few days ago. These kids are multiplying fast."

I touched the ray gun in my back pocket. "And whose fault is that?"

An angered look appeared on her face. "Right."

It wasn't hard to get Ghoul worked up. None of us liked Better Living Industries, but ever since they killed her twin sister two years ago, she hated them the most.

Kid walked over and put a hand on her shoulder. I had to try not to smile at him-my cousin had had a crush on her for quite some time now.

I glanced over at Star, who was still sitting in the chair, bandages covering his head. "Are you good?" I asked.

I know, it sounds awful that we all go on these risky missions, even when one of us is hurt, but 1. we need the people and 2. you try convincing the others to stay home on a task to do harm to the industry that got us where we are now.

He nodded. He was a tough right-hand man. I don't know what I'd do without him.

"All right, guys, you ready?"

Kid grinned at me. "Killjoys, let's make some noise!"

I walked over and smacked him on his bleached-blonde head. "No one steals Dr. D's line. Not even one of us, lil' cuz."


	3. Bulletproof Heart

**Bulletproof Heart**

Sneaking into Better Living Industries was the easy part. Beating the shit out of Draculoids was simple.

Getting out was another story.

"Don't slow down, Ghoul! I'd rather we not be a snack for the Draculoids!" I shouted while dashing back to the entrance of their headquarters. We were carrying bags of food we'd stolen for the children, and we all had our ray guns ready, shooting whenever we could possibly get a Draculoid. They were about ten times our size in numbers, but we'd handled more before. Forty or so was no problem, but we certainly weren't going to kill them all.

Not today, at least.

"I'm goin', Poison!" she yelled back. "I'm just shootin' while I still got 'em!"

I rolled my eyes and ran a little faster, hoping she'd catch the hint. If she would've lived a few centuries ago, she would've been the person that the phrase "killing machine" would've been created about. There was no stopping that chick.

Turning for a split second to blow a Draculoid into oblivion, I exclaimed backward, "Star, start up the Trans-Am! We're gonna blow this joint!"

"Gotcha!" he shouted in reply, and we just barely heard the promising beep of a car.

The Draculoids were gaining, and rays were flying every which way, but we were almost there. The door was within fifty yards of us.

"Is it unlocked?" Kid questioned about the door, ducking to avoid a laser headed his way.

"Not counting on it," I answered, then blasted the door open. It was slightly amusing to watch a giant piece of glass shatter for about the five hundredth time.

Once we were out of the building, we immediately leapt into the white, dirtied, spray-painted car that we all loved, Star at the wheel. As bad as it sounds, Star and Ghoul were the only ones with driving experience, and neither had their license. Star slammed on the gas pedal and took off.

"Woohoo!" Ghoul bellowed ecstatically the minute we headed down the road. "Man, those Draculoids'll never learn, will they?" My own adrenaline was pumping through my body, and I smiled, breathing a little heavily from all the running.

"I wonder how many times they've replaced that door," Kid speculated aloud, turning to look out the back window. I shrugged. "Twenty, thirty? Maybe more?"

Ghoul kicked her feet up on the back of the driver's seat, which Star didn't seem to mind. "These kids are getting' gourmet tonight, man. How many bags did we steal?"

"Two for each of us, except Star, who got three, so that's nine."

"Damn!" she yelled, then cackled excitedly. "If this doesn't last us, nothin' will."

Dr. D couldn't stop beaming when we gave him the bags. Opening one up and examining the contents inside, he declared, "I gotta hand it to ya, kids… you've really outdone yourselves."

"Hell yeah, we did!" Ghoul exclaimed, taking off her helmet and letting her long, black hair fall out. Kid gazed at her all the while, then, noticing I was looking at him, blushed, and turned away. I grinned, then walked over to Star and slapped him on the shoulder as he took his helmet off, revealing the bandages on his head. "You would not believe this guy, Doc. Got hit in the head about five hours ago, robbed three bags, and drove us home." A small, sheepish smile appeared on his face.

Dr. Death threw a ninja star at him, and Star caught it in midair. "Congrats: you win the gold star, Star."

"I dunno, Doc," Ghoul proclaimed, hating being out of the loop, "I blasted some o' them shithead Draculosers into next century." Doc shook his head while cutting open the rest of the bags with an old Swiss Army knife. "Chick, you win the gold star about sixty percent of the time. I think Star deserves one this go round."

Ghoul folded her arms stubbornly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You just like saying "star" twice."

Ignoring her remark and sitting in his DJ seat, Doc glanced at each of us before turning on the mixer. "Any of you got somethin'? Or you been too busy beating BLI ass?"  
In case any of you are a little confused, Dr. Death Defying is a pirate radio DJ who's a few years older than our parents would've been, putting him in his late forties or early fifties. He's not just any DJ, though – he's one of us and sends us transmissions. Basically, he's out main connection to the outside world.

"Ooh, I got somethin'!" Kid announced. He grabbed the studio's acoustic guitar and started tuning it. He usually played bass in our little band we had, but he was going solo here. "It's called 'Bulletproof Heart,' Doc."

"Sweet," Dr. D responded, then turned on the mic and started speaking. "Look alive, rise and shine, the Killjoys are back and brought us some goodies straight from the front. If you want any, better come down to the station and get it. We've got a live song for you today, so remember: the future is bulletproof, just like this kid's heart. Here's the Kalon Kid with his new song."

_"Gravity don't mean too much to me_

_Is this our destiny? This world is after me, after you_

_Run away, like it was yesterday_

_And we could run away, run away, run away, run away from here…."_

The acoustic power chord hung in the air as Dr. D took the mic in his hand. "Well, there you go, Killjoys: Kalon Kid's 'Bulletproof Heart.' And, by God, if anyone's got one, it's him." He reached behind him and patted the Kid on his chest, whose face flushed a little. I always admired him for his excessive humility.

"All right, well, we got an old hit ready here… let's see if any of the older kids remember this one. First caller that gets it right wins a kiss from the lovely Miss Poison here." He winked at me, and I put my finger in my mouth and made a gagging sound. "Just kidding," he stated. "But you will get a nice old 8 inch record from this band. So let's have at it, radiators!"

Finally putting the mic down, Doc hit the play button on the CD player and sighed. "Boy, would it make my day if someone actually called," he ruminated. "The kids just aren't into the classics these days." Pausing, he took a good look at all of us, the only sound in the room being the faint music about scary teenagers coming from the player. We knew something big was coming. Doc didn't give that look every day.

Scooting his rolling chair closer to us, he folded his hands together and looked each of us in the eye. "Do you all still play?"

We glanced at each other. Obviously Kid did, but we hadn't played publicly for so long, nobody would know about the rest of us and our band.

"Yeah," I finally replied. "We get together about once or twice a week and sill jam a bit. Why?"  
Doc started drumming his fingers against an arm on his chair, then nodded, as if he found the answer to something he'd been contemplating.

"All right, well, I hate to do this to you guys, but I've got another favor to ask of you." A minute smile came across his face. "Although, this one's a bit more enjoyable than the last."

"More fun than killing Draculoids?" Ghoul remarked, smirking. "That's up there."

"We'll do any favor, enjoyable or not, as long as it helps us stop BLI." All eyes turned to Star, and both Doc and I grinned. He wasn't much of a talker, but when he did say something, it was worth listening to.

Suddenly Doc laughed. "You kids are all exactly like your fathers. Each and every one of ya. Boy, would they be proud of their little rebels today."

That made us all smile. Dr. Dr had a way of bringing up our parents without making us feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, so here's the deal," Doc began. "Less and less kids are following us, and more and more kids are starting to believe those damn commercials BLI pays for. They'll become brainless zombies before they know it. Now, guys, think… what's one of the biggest influences on growing younguns?"

Ghoul gasped and leapt into the air animatedly. "Music!"

"That's right," Dr. D affirmed. "What I want you guys to do is hold a big, open performance in the old amphitheater down by the railroad station. A free concert to teenagers is like handing a bucket of ice cream to a seven-year-old. They'll be piling in before you know it. And you'll be there with one message, and that'll be…?"

"To tell them the bullshit BLI's been sayin' is from a bunch o' stuck-up-their-ass zombies," Ghoul finished without hesitation.

Doc cackled louder than I'd ever heard him before. "Exactly!"


End file.
